INTRODUCTION
A nation which is known for its cultural equality, where females had been given fair chance in social matters or issues, their respect and self-esteem had been on uttermost priority, what happened to that society? Why we are appreciating the the western concept of female harassment, which we disdained by our ancestors centuries ago, yes the cultural invasion and colonization had erased our cultural thought process and mindsets but now we are free and rebuilding our nation.
This topic brings me a sensitive halt to stop and think about the nation we are building. Rape is not just a crime against the person it is crime against humanity. This topic need some special attention for a civil and safe society. Let me tell you some legal information about it.
The word rape is derived from a Latino word implying ‘to seize’. Rape is a crime that
“involves sexual assault which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person’s consent”. Rape in India is defined under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code “as intentional, unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent” The definition of also included when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested, in fear of death or of hurt. the definition is too narrow and has been periodically criticized for not incorporating other forms of sexual assault. The crime of rape entails a socio-cultural perspective as well. Rape not just harms the victim physically but also a soul with devastating effects on the victim. Based on a variety of situations, rape has been classified into various types viz., - Acquaintance rape, Stranger rape, Gang rape, Statutory rape, Spousal rape are a few types of rape.
Legal history
For over a century after 1860, the criminal law relating to sexual assault cases remained unchanged until the turning point incident of the Mathura custodial rape case. Which become a landmark in various other judgments. On March 26, 1972, a young Adivasi girl named Mathura was allegedly raped by policemen in the Desai Gunj Police Station in Maharashtra. In the trial, the session court came to the conclusion that she had sexual intercourse while in custody at the police station but rape had not been proved and that she was accustom to intercourse. While the sessions court acquitted both the policemen, the High Court reversed the order. When the case reached the Supreme Court, it repeal the High Court verdict saying that “the intercourse in question is not proved to amount to rape”. In its September 15, 1978 verdict, the top court said no marks of injury were found on the girl after the incident, and “their absence goes a long way to indicate that the alleged intercourse was a peaceful affair”.The controversial verdict sparked widescale protests across the country seeking a change in existing rape laws. This verdict shows the condition and mindset we had then. This culminated into the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act of 1983. A new Section 114A in the Indian Evidence Act was inserted which presumed that there is the absence of consent in certain prosecutions of rape if the victim says so. This applied to custodial rape cases.
In the IPC, Section 228A was added which makes it punishable to disclose the identity of the victim of certain offenses including rape.
RAPE under riots
Now, 75 years of independence, one of the best constitution and legislative framework, free and empowered media. A total class of investigating agencies. We made a democratic society where we shout for RTI and we protest on political agendas. We fight over religious believes, But still, we are unable to stop the curse that suffers by thousand of women after the independence also and we intellectual never talked about it like anything happens nobody asked why Extreme public cruelty and brutality had 'characterized' in all the big communal massacres of post-Independence India: Nellie in 1983, Delhi in 1984, Bhagalpur in 1989, and Bombay in 1992–93 Gujrat riots 2002. The jury of the National People’s Tribunal on Kandhamal, established after violence that broke out in this predominantly tribal district in Odisha in 2007-08, observed: “During the attacks, women, and girls were targeted for sexual violence, humiliation, brutal physical assaults or threats thereof. Women suffered the most bestial forms of brutality, sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, insertion of objects into their bodies, stripping, and molestation. A majority of the women who suffered this violence were then burnt alive. But we keep ourselves quiet on the topic of rape and molestation and why we have this hypocrisy. oh I know the answer because it's a crime against a woman and our society belongs to patriarchy, rape culture is always rooted in patriarchal beliefs, power, and control. Rape culture is allowed to continue when we buy into ideas of masculinity that see violence and dominance as “strong” and “male”, and when women and girls are less valued. Have we changed our society a bit since we suffered a tremendous loss? This defines our position back then but now in 2020-21, is it safe to say that we are in good shape.
Let us have look at some data for 2020.
He also quoted that in past six months 4,893 cases on rape, molestation, kidnapping, eve-teasing, etc were registered as compared to 6,152 similar cases reported last year between January and June. The DGP{ Haryana } said 1,259 fewer cases were registered during the first six months of 2020 in comparison to last year which is “the sharpest decline in crime against women” and attributed this to “round-the-clock vigil by Haryana cops.”
The Covid-19 lockdown was imposed in the last week of March and continued till May. In June, the state exited the lockdown in a phased manner with restrictions on the movement of people. Despite this, 4,893 cases of rape, molestation, eve-teasing, etc were registered in the first six months.
Police statistics show that 636 cases of rape were registered in Delhi till June 30 this year. Though this figure is 338 cases less than what was reported during the same period last year, it is still alarming in a city that is infamous as the rape capital of India. Likewise, at least 813 molestation cases were lodged till June 30 this year, compared to 1,460 such cases in the corresponding period in 2019.
In India, a rape is reported every 15 minutes, according to recently released official government crime data. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data from 2018 has stark revelations about crime in the country.
Shocked, I am not, our media does not cover this, because it isn't worth of T.R.P.
As per NCRB Data1
WHICH KIND OF NATION WE WANT, A NATION IN WHICH WOMEN HAS NO RIGHT ?,A NATION WHERE PEOPLE NEITHER UNDERSTAND THE PAIN OF BEING RAPED NOT JUST PHYSICALLY BUT MENTALLY BY THE SOCIETY WHO PARTICULARLY DON'T KNOW WHOM TO BLAME. ?
Crime against Women (IPC + SLL) - 2016-2018
State/UT
Data by - NCRB2
Few Indian states with the highest crime rates against women.
The NCRB data is usually released after two years, annually. Under the Narendra Modi government, the data was inordinately delayed and some aspects are still missing. However, the data on violence against women throws up shocking figures for 2018.
Rape committed in 2018 by sec. wise NCRB3
In 2013, the criminal law amendment act was passed which criminalized sexual offenses like acid attacks, voyeurism, and stalking, and also provided 20-year sentences for rape and the death penalty in extreme rape cases.
A committee was set up under former Chief Justice of India J S Verma. His committee’s report pointed out systemic failures on the part of the government and the Delhi police.
The federal government also set up a special “Nirbhaya Fund” in 2013 to help women who had been attacked as well as to improve public safety for women. But none of these moves led to any decrease in the number of rapes.
Humans and their activities are becoming more horrifying day by day.
World wide facts It is estimated that of the 87,000 women who were intentionally killed in 2017 globally, more than half (50,000- 58 percent) were killed by intimate partners or family members, meaning that 137 women across the world are killed by a member of their own family every day. More than a third (30,000) of the women intentionally killed in 2017 were killed by their current or former intimate partner4
IN US
As even the most developed country are also in very much effect of the this curse, most gang rapes are atrociously violent and traumatizing: brutal torture during and after the sexual act is not quite uncommon. In the US, one such unspeakable crime was reported from Steubenville, a football-obsessed industrial city in Appalachia.
The heinous gang rape of a teenage girl occurred on August 11, 2012. According to news reports, the offenders dragged her from party to party. Two 16-year-old high school football players of the Big Red team were arrested about a week after the girl’s parents reported the case.More student players are suspected to be involved in the rape.
RAPE CULTURE
Rape culture is a concept which explains the prevalent attitudes, norms and practices in a society that minimize excuses, tolerate, or even condones rape. It “is a complex set of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women”, In India, most gang rapes aren’t a ‘boyish’ thing; it is a particular form of domination based on social relationships of unequal power. Caste, class and gender — the key hierarchical social structures — are at play in the Indian context. But still India got some nice figures if compared to the world wide.
Suggestion to improve the condition ''
Courts should be opened in every city which deals with cases in which women are victims.
Rape cases should be the priority in every state.
It's not just the matter of law, it's a matter of safe and sound life for a woman.
It's a constitutional matter of rights and liberty punishment should be 20 years
Capital punishment should be often in crimes like rape
Special place or institution where rape victim should provide all kind of medical and legal help at same time.
Establish policies of zero tolerance for sexual harassment and violence in the spaces in which you live, work, and play. Political Leaders must be particularly clear that they are committed to upholding a zero-tolerance policy and that it must be practised every day
Reference
https://www.unicef.org/stories/what-you-need-know-about-female-genital-mutilation.
https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRC_WORKPLACE_SH_2018.
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/the-west-too-has-a-rape-culture/article20562992.ece
https://asiatimes.com/2020/01/a-rape-in-india-every-15-minutes-government-data/
nice